Christie: ‘No Doubt’ Blasts in NY and NJ Are a Form of Terrorism

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said today that he does not know who is responsible for Saturday’s bombings in New York and New Jersey, but he does know what to call the attacks.

“You can call them whatever you want – they are terrorism, though,” Christie said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “There’s no doubt about that. They’re terrorism. Now, who’s responsible and what the motive was is something else that, hopefully, we’re going to find out in the days ahead.”

Asked by host Jake Tapper whether there are suspicions of a link to a terrorist group such as the Islamic State, Christie replied, “Of course there are.”

He continued: “You know, but I, again, I think one of the things – and this comes from my background as a prosecutor for seven years, Jake – you don’t want to jump to conclusions, and you don’t want to put information out there that you don’t know is absolutely true.”

Speaking at a rally in Colorado Springs on Saturday night, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told the crowd that a bomb had detonated in New York. At the time, authorities had not said whether the explosion that injured at least 29 people in New York was caused by a bomb.

“I must tell you that just before I got off the plane, a bomb went off in New York and nobody knows exactly what’s going on,” Trump said.

“It’s a terrible thing that’s going on in our world, in our country,” he added, “and we are going to get tough and smart and vigilant. . . . We’ll see what it is. We’ll see what it is.”

Christie, who will lead Trump’s transition team should the real estate magnate win the election, defended Trump’s comments.

“Well, listen, I don’t think you have to defer when saying that there was an explosion and a bomb in New York,” Christie said. “I mean, everybody knew that, and it was being reported on television, Jake. So there’s a difference. Now, you shouldn’t attribute it to any particular organization or group if you don’t have the facts or information to do that. But I think that what Donald did was perfectly appropriate.”